(a) Initiation of Process by Defendant. WheneverIf a defendant, who after preliminary examination or waiver thereof, wishes to plead guilty and the district court judge of the district court who would otherwiseassigned to take the plea is not conveniently available, hethe parties may request the prosecuting attorney to select another district court judge from within the judicial district to accept histhe defendant's guilty plea and impose sentence.

(b) Transfer of Records. The prosecuting attorney shall transfer or cause to be transferred forthwith, to the district judge who will accept the plea, the complete file of the case against the defendant. Such proceedings will be duly recorded by the clerk and following disposition of the case, the file shall be returned to the clerk of the court where the charge was filed.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Rule 19 was amended, effective_____________.

Rule 19 is an adaptation of N.D.C.C. § 29-09-03, (Prosecution on information without waiting for term of court.) and is designed to overcome the binding effect of term time when the term judge is unavailable and the defendant wishes to plead guilty to a criminal charge. The Rule contemplates that the District Courtdistrict court is always open [N.D.C.C. § 27-05-07. (Purposes for which district courts always open -- When and where issues of fact triable.)] to accept a plea.

Subdivision (a)Rule 19 provides that the initiation of the process must come from the defendant but the selection of the alternate District Judge to accept such plea is left to the prosecuting attorneythe parties acting together may request an alternate district judge to accept a guilty plea. The procedure is intended to create a balance between the defendant and the prosecution by allowingallow the defendant and the prosecution to dispose of the case by pleading guilty to the charge; the selection of the judge by the prosecution is intended to prevent "judge-shopping" by the defendant. Since the defendant is not required to maintain his guilty plea after initiating the process, he is protected from an "unsympathetic" judge because the effect of a plea of not guilty reverts the action to its original status before the District Court of the termwithout waiting for the original judge to become available. The alternate judge may take the plea as requested or decline the request.

SubdivisionFormer subdivision (b) is adapted from N.D.C.C. § 29-09-04, (Appearance in court--Chambers--Plea.), and provides that when the an action is transferred, the file shall must be forwarded to the judge who will receive the plea. The proceedings will be held in the judge's chambers, will be recorded and will have the same force and effect as if the proceedings were held in open court of the term was deleted effective ________________.

Rule 19 was amended, effective ______________, in response to the December 1, 2002, revision of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.